Circuit-interrupter



J. N. MAHONEY AND H. G. MACDONALD- CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER.

APPLICATION r1150 use. 26, 1913.

Patented 001. 14,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

WWITNESSES:

VEN 0R5 ATTORNEY J. N. MAHONEY AND H. G. MACDONALD- CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER.

APPLICATION FILED 02c. 26, 1913.

1,318,784. Patented Oct. 14,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSE:

' VENTORS M W o-JI WM L I ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

JOSEPH N. MAHONEY AND HOWARD G. MACDONALD, OF WILKINSBURG, PENNSYL- VANIA, ASSIGNORS TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COM- PANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CIRCUIT-INTERRUPTER,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 14, 1919.

Application filed December 26, 1913. Serial No. 808,717.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, J osnrn N. MAI-loner, a citizen of the United States, and'a resident of Wilkinsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, and HOWARD G. MACDONALD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Wilkinsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Circuit-Interrupters, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to circuit interrupters, and it has particular reference to devices of the oil-immersed type which are provided with means for remotely closing and for manually and automatically trlpping the same. 1

One object of our invention is to provide a device of the above-indicated class which will be applicable to circuit breakers of relatively large current or power capacities, and which require a comparatively large amount of ower for operation.

nother object of-our'invention is to provide means whereby circuit interrupters'may be tripped by the same means which effect their closing operation.

7 Heretofore considerable difliculty has been encountered in the remote manual operation of circuit interrupters of large current or power capacity. To overcome this difiiculty, we have provided, in our present invention, a device which stores energy during the first part of its movement and gives up this energy during the latter part to assist in the closing of the interrupter.

In .the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view, partially in elevation and partially in-section, of a device embodying our invention, and Fig. 2 is a view, partially in section and partially in elevation, of a circuit interrupter towhich our invention has been adapted.

Referring to the drawings, the apparatus here shown comprises in general, a circuit breaker 1, a remotely disposed operating handle 2, a bell crank mechanism 3 for me chanically connecting the operating handle 2 to a device 4 embodying our invention.

The operating handle 2 is pivoted at a.

point 5 on a panel 6 and its inner end is operatively connected'to the upper end of a rod 7 which in turn is attached to one arm of a bell crank lever 8.' The bell crank lever 8 is pivoted on a bracket 9 and its lower arm lsioperatlvely connected to one end of a rod 10 the other end of which is attached to one arm of a bell crank lever 11. The bell crank lever is pivoted on a bracket 12; and one of its arms is operatively connected to a rod 13, for purposes hereinafter described.

The device 4 comprises in detail a frame 14 for supporting an accelerating and retarding device 15, an indicating device 16, a tripping device 17 and having a plurality of brackets 18 and 19 thereon for supporting the operating mechanism of the same. A lever arm 21 is pivoted upon a pin 20 with which the brackets 18 are provided, the said arm jbeing forked at one end to receive a pivotally attached vertical rod 22 and having a link 23 pivotally attached to its other end. A forked lever arm 24, consisting of two -side-by-side members 25 and 26 that. are connected together at one end and are spaced apart at the other end, is also pivoted on the pin 20. To the end of the lever arm 24 where its members 25 and 26 areconnected together, is attached a member 27 in which the upper end of the rod 13 is seated and which 'is provided with a slot 28 to permit of a slight relative rectilinear movement of the rod. The member 27 is provided with a lug to support one end of a spring 34, the other end of which rests against the frame 14.

The member 26 of the lever 24 has pivotally attached to it a rod 35 that is adapted to support a spring 36 which is similar to the spring 34 and is similarly supportedwith respectto the frame 14.

The link 23 is connected, at its lower end,

to a piston rod 37 of the accelerating and retarding device 15 which comprises a spring 15 that rests against a piston 37 at one end and against the cylinder 15 at its other end. A latch member 38 is attached to the brackets 19 and is provided with an operating arm 39 and an arm 40 to which is connected one end of a spring 41 the other end of which is attached to the frame 14. The latch member 38 engages a accelerated by the s jection on the lever arm 21. A latch member 43 is-pivotally mounted at a point relatively near the junctions of the lever mem bers 25 and 26. The latch member 43 is provided with an operating arm 43 that IS adapted to engage the trigger 30 and a relatively movable 0 crating arm 44 which is disposed substantially at right angles to the arm 43 and connected thereto by a spring 44. The arm 44 is adapted to be engaged by the movable core member 45 of the e cotromagnet device 17. The latch member 43 engages a roller 43*.that is disposed within the bifurcation of the lever arm 21.

The rod 22, which is pivotally attached to the lever arm 21, is a mechanical means for transmitting the movements of the operating handle to the contact members (not shown) of the circuit breaker 1.

The indicating device 16 is supported by the accelerating device 15 and comprises an insulating member 48 upon which are mounted two stationary contact members 49' and 50 and a stationary terminal mem ber 51 upon which is pivotally mounted a member having two knife blade arms 52 and 53, the said arms being attached to a member 54 that is pivotally connected tr ne end of a link 55, the other end of which'is pivotall attached to the lever arm 21, substantial y as shown.

Assuming the circuit interrupter to be closed and the various parts of the apparatus to occupy the positions shown, the opening of the circuit by manual means is accomplished as follows:

The handle 2 is slightly raised and its movement is transmitted through the bell crank mechanism 3 to the rod 13v which is free to move upwardly a, relatively short distance, by reason of the slot 28, to causethe lug 29 to engage thetrigger member 30 and move it into engagement with the arm 43 of latch member 43 to effect withdrawal of the latter from the roller 43" and thus permit the lever 21 to fly upwardly to open the circuit interru ter through the rod 22. The opening of tli ing 15 of the accelerating device 15 dur ng the first part of its operation and is retarded during the latter part by compression of the air between the piston 37 and the bottom of the cylinder 15". The forked lever 24 remains in its lower position but it is released from engagement with the latch member 38"by reason of the action of the link member 47 in carrying the operating lever 39 of the latch member 38 upwardly when the lever 21 operates.

The upward movement of the lever 21 e circuit interrupter is' engaged from the latch 38 as hereinbefore described, to move upwardly to compress the springs 34 and 36 until the latch 43 is a short distance above the roller, 43 on the lever arm 21. The operatin handle isthen moved downwardly. The rst part of its movement releases the engagement of the trigger 30 from the arm 43 to permit engagement of the roller 43 by the latch 43 and 'further movement depresses the levers 21 and 24, with the assistance of the springs 34 and 36, until the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 is attained and the latch member 38 again engages the roller 42. This movement is transmltted through the rod 22 to close the circuit interrupter 1 by any well known means, and the indicating device 16, as hereinbefore described, will indicate the closingof the same.

The springs 34 and 36 are of such a size that they Wlll materially assist in the closing of the circuit interrupter, which operation would be impracticable without their assistance.

If a short circuit occurs on the circuit which the circuit interrupter is protecting, sufiicient current will traverse the winding 56 of thgmagnet 57 of the tripping device 17-to move the core member 45 upwardly to en age the arm 44 of the latch member 43 and t us efi'ect withdrawal of the same from the roller 43', thus allowin the lever 21 to move upwardly to open t e circuit interrupter, in the manner hereinbefore described.

While we have shown and described a cir' cated in the appended claims.

We claim as our invention: 1 In: a circuit-closing device, the combination with two coaxlally pivoted members,

and means for automatically latching the members together when in their upper positions, of a spring operatively connected to one member for storing energy when that member is moved to its upper position to automatically efiect latching engagement with the other member, said spring subsequently entirely releasing its stored energy in assisting to move the members to their closed positions.

2. In an actuating device for a circuit interrupter, the combination with coaxially pivoted actuated and actuating lever arms, and means for automatically latching the said arms together under n'edetermined conditions, of a spring operatively connected to the actuating lever arm and adaptedto-exert a downward force on the a'ctuated lever arm only when the actuating lever arm is raised into latching engagement with the actuated lever arm to thereby assist in the downward movement of the latched lever arms.

3. In an actuating device for a circuit interrupter, the combination with coaxially mounted actuated and actuating lever arms, and means for automatically latching the same together under predetermined conditions. of a spring element connected to the actuating lever arm and which is compressed when the actuating lever arm is raised into latching engagement with the actuated lever arm, the stored energy in the compressed spring being available in its entirety to assist in the downward movement of the latched lever arms.

4. In an actuating device for a circuit interrupter, the con'ibination with a compound operating lever arm and means for automatically latching the component parts together only when both component parts occupy their open position, of a device that is operatively connected to one of said com ponent operatinglever parts and in which energy is stored when said connected lever part occupies its open position, the energy in said device being then available to exert a force to assist said first component lever part in returning the second component lever part to its closed position after latching engagement between the component lever parts has been effected.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this 18th day of Dec. 1913.

JOSEPH N. MAHONEY. HOIVARD G. MACDONALD. Witnesses:

HARRY S. TARBER'r, B. B. HINES. 

